* * *
Cosette came out of the bathroom after her shower only to find that Isaac wasn’t in the main area. A quick dart of disappointment went through her. She’d daydreamed throughout her shower about dancing all alone in the dark. In her imagination, that led to kissing. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. She smiled, thinking back on their day. She’d loved every minute with him. He treated her like an angel and was so much fun to be with. A frown pulled her lips down as she realized they only had four days left before Isaac would have to go back to Florida. Hopefully Vance would be arrested by then, but she was more concerned about more time with Isaac.
She went into her room, put on a tank top and some shorts, and lay down on the bed. She left the door open, hoping she’d hear Isaac or he’d come in to say good night. Kissing her good night would be even better. Closing her eyes, she listened to the ocean softly rolling onto the beach. A mental image of Isaac grinned at her with a sparkle in his blue eyes.
The next thing she knew, she startled awake. The house was dark, except for the mood lights in the main area, and quiet. Only the sound of the tide broke the silence. She’d fallen asleep and missed the chance to kiss Isaac after their wonderful day together. No!
Scrambling out of bed, she darted out of her room and flung Isaac’s door open wide. “Isaac,” she called to him.
“What?” He sprang up in bed, quickly pushing to his feet. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Cosette strode up to him and threw her arms around his strong back. “I forgot to give you something today.”
“What?” He was still looking a little disoriented. His blue eyes stared at her in confusion, his hair was mussed, and his beautiful chest was visible.
“This.” She arched up and pressed her lips to his.
Isaac startled and pulled slightly away from her. Every fear that she was a horrible kisser like Vance had claimed came rushing back. That kiss was too short to really know, though. Would Isaac give her another chance? Would he teach her to be better? He was taken with her, and she wanted him.
“You needed to give me that?” Isaac asked in a gravelly voice. He tenderly cupped her face with his hands and stared down at her.
“Yes, I did.” Cosette wrapped her hands around his biceps and pulled herself tighter to him, praying he wouldn’t push her away.
“Thank you,” Isaac murmured. Then he dipped his head and he kissed her. Wow, did he kiss her.
The darkness around them seemed to sparkle, but that might have just been how lit up Cosette felt from the inside out. Isaac’s mouth took command of hers, and everything from his warm, strong body to his delectable cologne made the kiss absolutely perfect. It was better than dancing, better than cooking, better than working in her lab, better than anything her overactive imagination could dream up, and that was saying something.
Isaac continued to kiss her but put his hands on her hips and easily lifted her off the ground. Cosette wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned down to him, hungrily returning his kisses and not wanting to be pulled apart for one second.
He carried her out to the couch, sinking down with her now sitting on his lap. Isaac pulled back slightly and said with a smile, “It’s a better idea to not be kissing you in my bedroom.”
“Oh?” she asked, a little bit confused. Then images of what might happen if they kept kissing in the bedroom raced through her, and with those ideas came a heat that threatened to blister. “Oh!” She scrambled off of his lap and onto her own couch cushion. “I didn’t mean to … Oh my!”
Isaac chuckled, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her in close to his side. “I know you didn’t. You’re so innocent and perfect.”
Cosette glanced up at him. “Are you sure those two coincide?” she asked quietly.
“Yes.” He nodded firmly, lifting her sideways onto his lap and against his chest. “Innocent, perfect, beautiful, irresistible, adorable … You’re the perfect combination of all things good and desirable, Cozy. You’re perfect to me.”
Cosette sighed happily and had no choice but to kiss him again. Granted, it wasn’t any hardship on her part. The kisses grew in intensity and passion, and she knew she’d never been kissed like this before. He was hers. She felt it. She’d spent most of her life in her own head, imagining and creating and experimenting. She couldn’t create something as beautiful as the connection between them, but she could spend a long time experimenting with different ways to kiss him.
When he gently deepened the kiss and tingles went off everywhere in her mouth, she cried out, “Oh!” and pulled back, staring at him in shock and awe. “That was …”
“Too quick,” Isaac said. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you ever be sorry about kissing me,” she said fiercely. “Let’s try it again, without me freaking out.”
He chuckled and moved in close. “Yes, ma’am.”
Time passed in this perfect activity, and Cosette was invigorated yet content from all the kissing and the knowledge that she’d finally found the man she was destined to be with. Her imagination ran wild with a white dress and a tux at a beach wedding, then a little bungalow like this for just the two of them, until a whole bundle of kiddos came to challenge and increase their blessed happiness.
She pulled back from a lingering kiss and murmured, “I want to be with you forever, Isaac.”
His eyes went from half closed and full of desire to wide open and full of concern. He ushered her next to him on the couch and held her against him with one arm. Cosette curled into him, resting her hand on his chest. Had she said something wrong?
“Cozy,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “I have to go back to Florida in four days.”
Her body tightened with worry. “I know that. I’m not asking you to give up your career for me.”